Improvement in governors for steam-engines



J. L. HASTINGS, OF TOWANDA, PENNSYLVANIA;

IMPROVEMENT iN GOVERNORS FOR STEAM'ENGINES.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 42,47@ dated April 26,1864.

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.:

Beit known that l, J, L. HnsTnv-Gs, of Towanda, in the county ot'Bradford and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new andusefullmprovenientsin a Discon necting Mech anismApplied between aGovernor and the Valve which it Operates; and l do hereby 'de-- clarethe following to be a full, clear, and eX- act description oftheconstruction and opera-- tion of the saine, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making apart of this specification, in-which`Figure-l represents a perspective view of a steam governor and valves',with ltheconnect-V ing and disconnecting 4mechanism inplace.

Fig. 2 represents a transverse section through the'valve-chest andvalve, and Fig. 3 repre scnts a longitudinal section through the same.

I n a governor worked by a belt or bandv -there are at least twocasualties incident to such connect-ion which cannot be provided againstor avoided-viz., the breaking or parting of the belt or band, and,secondly, its lia bility to slip o' from the pulleys; but with theseliabilities to disarrangement or to damage thereby belts are muchpreferred to rigid gearing, such as shafts and cog-gearing, and

are almost universally used.

The effect of the breaking or parting of a belt, or of its slipping oit'from the pulleys, is that it stops the rotation of the governorballs,and this destroys the centrifugal force with which they are thrown outor raised, and they instantly drop, and as instantly and suddenly openwide the steam-ports, which causes a sudden and injuriousacceleratedmotion of the engine, and sometimes serious damage.

My invention consists in'in'terposin g a mechanism between the belt thatdrives the gov ernor and the valve arm or rod, which mechanism, themoment the belt parts or slips ottl from its pulleys, disengages thevalve rod 'er stem from the governor, so that the dropping ct thegovernor balls has no effect. upon the valve, but allows it to remain inthe position in which it was acting while connected to the governor, ormay be closed entirely.

To enable others skilled in the art to'make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe the same by reference to the drawings. A is theshaft to which the arms B and balls C are hinged,as'at a a.. The arms Bhave pivoted to them, at b, the links ]),"the other ends of said linksbeing pivoted to the slide or collar E at c, so that the raising orlowering ci' the balls and their arms shall correspondingly raise orlower the slide or collar E. Theshaft andV governor are set in motion bymeans of bevel-gears or pinions, one on its lower end, lthe other on theend of the shaft F, over a pulley, Gr, on which passes a belt, H, bywhich said shaft is set in motion. The belt H` also passes overa pulley,I, or drum,

which receives its motion from the engine in any of the usual ways, andthe governor is thus actuated through said belt H.

In the slide or collar E there is a groove, e, in which the pointot' thearm cfa bell-crank lever, J, works, said lever being pivoted at d to aprojection, K, on the column L, that supports the governor. To a wrist,f, on .the lever J the connecting-rod M is connected by one ot' its endsby an open slot or bearing. The other end of the rod M is connected to acrankarm, N, on the end of the valve-rod 0. So far as described, thecontrivance is like many others for a similar purpose, and is similarlyoperated. 0n a pillar, l?, is arrangeda rockshaft, Q, one end of whichhas an arm, g, for tit-ting under or partially around the connectingrodM, but not so as to interfere with said rod when the governor is workingproperly. To the other end, lL, or" said roclcshaft .there is attachedan arm, R, the extreme end t' of which carries a pulley or wheel, S,that rests upon the endless belt H, said belt holding up the wheel orpulley in the position shown in the drawings. Should the belt Hpart,break, or slip oli either of its pulleys G I, the wheel S would drop,the shaft Q turn, and the arm g raise up the connectingrod M anddisengage it from the wrist f, and consequently disconnect it from theVgovernor. The sudden dropping of the governor balls could then in nowise injuriously aiect the actionoi the valve in the steam-chest, and nosudden starting or jarring of the engine could take place. The chain Tprevents the arm g from turning so far as to drop the connecting-rod M,which might injure it, or which might att'ect the valve, but allows itto turn far enough to disengage said rod from the governor or crank J,and then is caught and held there, and far enough for the chain to closethe valve.

' The steam-chest U is cylindrical, and has an interior cylinder, V,within it, between which valve.

cylinders are inlet-passages j ,and exit-passages k,they being separatedby a partition, l. The valve W`Worlis in the inner cylinder,

and opens and closes lthe ports m m, as controlled by the governor. Thesteam enters the chest U through the steam-pi pe X, thence through thepassages nat the ends of the passage j intolthe lspace in which thevalve NV -.\vo1ks, thence in su'ch regulated quantities as the governorthrough the valve may admit of', vthrough the ports m and passage k andpipe to the engine. Itis, of course,'understood that the risingandfalling-otl the slide or collar E, vthrough the influence of thegovernor-balls, operates the valve W,- through thelever J, connectingbar M, and crank-arm N, in the usual Wellknown Way. I have shown thedisconnecting mechanism as applied to'a certain kind of valve. It is notlimited to such .-valve, but may be used in connection with anyotherwhen that takes place, may be so adjusted ,or regulated bythe tension ofthe chain T through the arm g as to check or stop the engine, par- -cureby Letters Patent, is

ley, or its equivalent, upon the belt that drives .the governor, so thatif said. belt should part,

.disengage the valve-rod from thegovernor, vand .thus avoid any injuryincident to suchV ports, when said rod M is disconnected from Theraisingv of the connectin'grod,

Atially or entirely, by the chain moving the 4valve partially orentirely over theports..

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim therein as newand desireto se- 1. Rest-ing Land supporting 'the Wheel, pulbreak, orslip oft' from its pulleys the dropping of said wheel and its connectedarm will casualty, substantially as herein described.

2. In combination with the arm g' and the connecting rod M, the chain Tfor moving the 'valve and closing or partially closing the the governor,for the purpose of stopping or checking the engine, substantially" asdevscribed. Y

' y J. L. 'HA'sTINGs Witnesses:.

W. C. BoeAR'r, N. N. BE'iTs,Jr.

